Edmundo González Urrutia prepares to return to Venezuela amid protests and repression

The situation in Venezuela becomes more and more tense in the face of taking possession of next January 10. In this scenario, the opponent and Edmundo González Urrutia prepares to disembark in the country while thousands of people demonstrate in the streets of Caracas against the repression of the security forces of the Nicolás Maduro regime.

In the run-up to the historic day, González Urrutia met with the head of state of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, at the National Palace of Santo Domingo in a clear sign of support for who was recognized by 32 other former presidents as the elected president of Venezuela. “We will all see each other very soon in Caracas, in freedom”González Urrutia promised.

Edmundo González Urrutia will return to Venezuela to take office

As promised repeatedly, the main opposition leader will seek to return to his native country on January 10 to take office as president. In the previous, Thousands of citizens demonstrate in the streets while they are repressed by the security forces of the Maduro regime.

There are many unknowns that arise about how the declared president-elect will enterespecially if you take into account that Maduro ordered an arrest warrant against the opposition leader. However, González Urrutia – exiled in Spain since September after threats received by the Venezuelan ruling party – undertook a tours Latin America to receive support from different governments in the region and plans to arrive in Venezuela on Friday.

The access to Venezuela through commercial flights were abruptly restricted with the decision of the Maduro government to suspend – in rejection of the questions to his re-election. Only air connections remained open with Bogotá and some European countries.

To these restrictions, more controls are added passenger entry and exit that maintain the police authorities in more than a dozen air terminals and in particular the Simón Bolívar international airport from the coastal town of Maiquetía, one of the main gateways to the country.

In his meeting with the Dominican president, González Urrutia recalled the kidnapping of his son-in-law Rafael Tudares by the Maduro regime and remains in unknown whereabouts when “48 hours have passed since his kidnapping”. Furthermore, he rejectedpublic statements that seek to link him with acts that he has not committed”.

Venezuela: nine former presidents will accompany Edmundo González Urrutia on his return to the country

The former president of Colombia, Andrés Pastrana, stated before the inauguration that he and eight other former Latin American leaders will accompany the Venezuelan opposition leader on his return to his country, in an attempt to assume the presidency on January 10despite the fact that the regime recognizes Nicolás Maduro as the winner of the presidential elections of July 28.

In detail, Pastrana explained that nine former heads of state members of the international forum Democratic Initiative of Spain and the Americas (IDEA Group) will travel with González Urrutia, first to Panama and then to Venezuela. The complete list is made up of: Mario Abdo (Paraguay), Vicente Fox (Mexico), Felipe Calderón (Mexico), Mireya Moscoso (Panama), Ernesto Pérez (Panama), Jorge Quiroga (Bolivia), Jamil Mahuad (Ecuador) and Laura Chinchilla (Costa Rica).

In response, the nine former leaders were declared persona non grata by the National Assembly of Venezuela after making public his intention to accompany González Urrutia. In this regard, Pastrana published on his X account that “If they don’t let us in, we’ll see each other at the exit. Coming soon“.

IDEA is an international forum that brings together more than 30 former presidents who “fight for the defense of freedom, of democracy, not only in Venezuela, but throughout the region,” as Pastrana explained. Among others, there are the Argentines Mauricio Macri and Eduardo Duhalde and the Spaniards Felipe González, José María Aznar and Mariano Rajoy.